Outside Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, protesters stood watch, waiting for the scheduled execution of Edmund Zagorski or a stay that would never come.

Two supporters of the death penalty waited in a grassy field Thursday evening outside the prison. A fence separated them from the 50 or so opponents of capital punishment keeping vigil.

By 7:26 p.m. CDT, Zagorski was dead, executed by the electric chair.

He had been on death row for 34 years for the April 1983 murders of John Dale Dotson and Jimmy Porter. Zagorski shot them, slit their throats and stole their money and a truck. The two men had expected to buy 100 pounds of marijuana from him.

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Witnesses, including family members of the victims, leave the execution of Edmund Zagorski at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

Witnesses, including family members of the victims, leave the execution of Edmund Zagorski at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

Witness Nicole Young of the Robertson County Times speaks to the media following the execution of Edmund Zagorski at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. George Walker IV / The Tennessean

People form a circle and pray against the death penalty before the execution of Edmund Zagorski at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

The Rev. John Boylan of Christ the Prophet Church in Spring Hill stands outside the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Edmund Zagorski Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

Rick Loude stands in the area designated for death penalty supporters before the execution of Edmund Zagorski at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

Rev. Stacey Harwell-Dye blows out candles at an anti-death penalty vigil at West End United Methodist Church after it was announced that Edmund Zagorski had been electrocuted Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee used its electric chair for the first time since 2007, executing Zagorski, 63, for the killings of two men during a drug deal in 1983. Mark Humphrey, AP

Rev. Stacy Rector speaks at an anti-death penalty vigil at West End United Methodist Church Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee used its electric chair Thursday for the first time since 2007, executing Edmund Zagorski, 63, for the killings of two men in 1983. Mark Humphrey, AP

People gather in a field designated for those who are against the death penalty before the execution of Edmund Zagorski at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. Shelley Mays / The Tennessean

Protesters for Irick return for Zagorski

Zagorski is the second inmate the state of Tennessee has put to death this year. Billy Ray Irick died by lethal injection on Aug. 6.

Many of the protesters who showed up Thursday night outside the prison were also there during Irick's execution.

The Rev. John Boylan, who leads a small Ecumenical Catholic congregation in Spring Hill, was one of them. The Franciscan priest, who carried a sign that read "Abolish the Death Penalty," said he has protested the death penalty for about 50 years.

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The Rev. John Boylan of Christ the Prophet Church in Spring Hill stands outside the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution before the execution of Edmund Zagorski Thursday.(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)

"This is about us. We’re the ones doing this," said Boylan, as a cold wind blew across the field. "The execution is done in our name."

Rick Laude, a death penalty supporter from Nashville, also returned to protest on Thursday night. Laude said he showed up for the families of Zagorski’s victims, who have waited more than 30 years for closure.

"Today is a very unfortunate day for this man, but he brought this on himself," Laude said.

As the time of Zagorski's execution ticked closer, those protesters opposing the death penalty gathered together in a circle as the light of flameless candles glowed in their hands. Many clergy, visitors to death row and representatives from Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty were among their ranks.

Supporters of the death penalty periodically shouted across the fence: "We're going to kill your boy tonight." "I hope he catches on fire."

The anti-death penalty protesters did not respond to them. Instead, they continued to pray, sing songs and share stories.

The Rev. Joe Ingle, who Zagorski picked to be his spiritual adviser in the final days of his life, spoke to the crowd about leaving Zagorski for the last time at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Ingle, who opposes the death penalty, is a United Church of Christ minister and leads the visitors on death row program at Riverbend.

Kathy Ingleson, who has been visiting a death row inmate for 18 years, showed up Thursday night outside the prison because she does not believe in the death penalty.

"Most of them have learned from their mistake, are very, very sorry. I still believe that they need to be punished for what they've done, but for the state to kill in my name, I do not believe," said Ingleson, who attends Holy Name Catholic Church in Brentwood. "I believe in redemption."

By 7:35 p.m., word of Zagorski's execution had spread to the protesters. Ingle announced it to those still gathered and encouraged them to sing "Amazing Grace" together.

"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear/And grace my fears relieved/How precious did that grace appear/The hour I first believed," they sang before dispersing into the cold, dark night.